Republic of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Iran are the international competitors of the film festival known as Varesh.
It is currently underway after a four-year hiatus in the northern Mazandaran provincial cities of Sari, Babol and Ramsar.
Azerbaijan Mugam, Azerbaijan Carpet, Winged Miracle, as well as Azerbaijan Cuisine will be screened at the festival.
From Afghanistan, The Weaver, Drop, Pale White, the Symphony of Tolibhon Shahidi Time, and Ancient Land of Azar are participating.
Iranian films The Iron Dreams, Takleef: The Day of Duty, Lotus, and The Legendary Mystical will be present at the international section.
Tajikistan will present A Door to God, Solidream Aspirations of the Pamir, and The Crying of Tanbur. Russian films are Big Boom, How Big Is the Galaxy, The Theory of the Sunset, and Faith.
Kazakhstan’s filmmakers will compete with 13km, Hearth and Ancestors Heritage.
At the ongoing event, art tourism as well as local traditions and customs of ethnic communities will take the center stage. A number of films on ethnography and anthropology of the northern Iranian Province of Guilan will also be reviewed at the festival.
The opening ceremony featured speeches of the director, head of policy-making committee, and some international figures such as Sergei Dvortsevo, a member of foreign jury board, and Eduard Pichugin, head of Berlin Academy.
At the ceremony, a video clip on the recent flood in Iran was screened to show the wide-scale dimensions of the deadly floods which affected two million Iranian people.
The 9th Varesh International Film Festival will run from April 29 to May 3.
Source: Mehr News